Low Ash content?

[Jilliebean0606]

What is considered a low ash content in cat food? The brand I just bought has 9% ash. Is that an acceptable amount? One of my cats is a male.

[Traci]

That is a considerably high amount.

What is the magnesium content?

What is the brand and type, canned or dry?

[slvrwhispr]

Out of curiosoty, what is ash, why is it in cat food, and why is it important to know about?

[Traci]

Ash and Magnesium.

[Jilliebean0606]

Magnesium is .1%

It is dry cat food. The brand is Royal Canin. My cats are almost one so I will be switching them to a new cat food. They've been eating Science Diet Kitten. I have two cats, one male, one female. They're both indoor cats and the male is kind of a chunky guy. Someone reccomended I buy Royal Canin Light 37.

I could not find the ash content on the bag so I called the 1-800 number. I was told the food was 9% ash. Does that sound wrong?

[Traci]

Ideally, magnesium content should be no more than 0.12 %, and ash content no more than 5.5 - 6%.

Since your cats have been on Science Diet kitten, why not introduce them to Science Diet adult maintenance? You can ask your vet about it.

"Light" foods are not always what they seem to be. If your male is overweight, get him checked by your vet, weighed, and your vet can do a body condition score and determine what diet would be most appropriate for him. He may suggest that additional exercise may be all that's needed at this point, but only your vet can determine through exam, weight and the BCS.

[Jilliebean0606]

I called my vet last week and they agreed a light formula would be best. They also said to start feeding them 2 smaller portions of food per day. I had been just free feeding them whenever I noticed their bowls were empty.

I told them someone had suggested to me Royal Canin Light and they said that was a good brand and would be fine but to make sure I checked the ash content. Anyways, since it was 9% I brought it back yesterday and returned it.

I walked up and down the cat food aisle (the good one, not the cheapo Friskies one) and check the ash content on every bag of light food. I check Authority, Eukenuba, IAMS, Natural Choice, Natures Best, Pro Plan, Science Diet, and possibly a few others I am forgetting right now. The ash content of all of them was between 6.2 and 7.5. I could not find one that was lower than 6. I ended up buying Science Diet Light because that was the lowest- 6.2

[Traci]

The ash content stated could be decieving, because it could be made up of several different minerals, (i.e., magnesium, phosphorus, etc), and technically, it is not required of manufacturers to list the "ash" content in the gauranteed analysis, but they do need to list the magnesium....it is the magnesium content you should be most concerned about.

[Jilliebean0606]

yes all the magnesium contents were fine- .1% or lower. It's interesting how much you stress magnesium. My vet has talked to me many times about ash but has never mentioned magnesium. I never even would have checked if you hadn't suggested it.

[Traci]

Jilliebean, please check your metrics. Was it .01 or .1? There's a difference.

At one time, it was thought that ash in commercial cat foods was the contributing factor for cats prone to FLUTD or crystal formation. After various studies, it is now known that it is more so the magnesium content that one needs to be concerned about. Since manufacturers are not required to list "ash" content in the labelling, it can be difficult for owners to determine, so the magnesium content in the gauranteed analysis is what you need to pay attention to. Your vet is probably aware of this, she probably just didn't explain in detail how ash is comprised of various minerals, magnesium being one of them. In any case, magnesium percentages should be noted where other minerals and vitamins are listed (i.e., calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, etc).